I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 742 This is what they want: sharing the world with the literati
Xue Baoqin's heart moved, and she asked repeatedly: "Your Majesty, if it were up to you, how would Guo Xun assess the situation?"

Zhu Yijun smiled and replied: "Guo Xun's greatest achievement was that he stood on the side of the emperor in time during the Great Ceremony Debate.

In the early years of Jiajing, Guo Xun, the former Marquis of Zhenyuan Gu Shilong, and Zhu Fu, the grandfather of the contemporary Duke of Chengguo Zhu Xizhong, and other nobles took charge of the Twelve Regiments and the Two Official Halls and stabilized the situation. Only then could the Emperor's grandfather achieve success in the Great Ceremony Debate.

Guo Xun was proud of his achievements and didn't know when to advance or retreat. He didn't understand that the time had passed and he should act with caution. That's why he suffered this disaster."

Xue Baoqin looked at Zhu Yijun who was talking eloquently and felt that the emperor's words were quite meaningful and seemed to be pointing at her.

From the events of the early years of Jiajing, Xue Baoqin thought of how the emperor dealt with the nobles last year.

The emperor began to govern the country in the first year of Longqing. He first dealt with the royal family, and then dealt with the civil officials headed by Jiangnan. His greatest reliance was the loyalty of military generals and the army.

The nobles also played a significant role in this.

Therefore, the emperor waited until the second year of the Wanli reign before taking action to deal with the nobles.

To be honest, this method is in the same vein as what Emperor Sejong used.

It's just that the emperor seems to be more clever and does things in a more methodical way. That's why people in the court and the public say that the emperor is better than his teacher!

Zhu Yijun looked at Xue Baoqin.

Her eyes flickered like colorful stars, and she seemed to be thinking about something, so she must have taken my words to heart.

Since Concubine Song gave birth to the eldest prince, and subsequently the second and third princes were born, Zhu Yijun spent more time in Yaohua Palace to accompany Xue Baoqin.

If you behave properly, the hearts of those below you will not become corrupt.

During these days of companionship, Zhu Yijun often talked about state affairs, subtly influencing his queen and passing on his ideas on governing the country to her.

Of course there is an ulterior motive.

Zhu Yijun continued.

“Let’s go back to the Li Fuda case.

At that time, Guo Xun was very proud and powerful. He took money to do things, so he wrote this letter to Ma Lu.

Ma Lu was originally angry at Guo Xun for "aiding and abetting" the tyrant at the Great Ceremony Conference. He was overjoyed after receiving the letter, thinking that he had finally caught you.

On the same day, he wrote a letter to impeach Guo Xun, saying, "Those who ask for the letter are aware of the matter; those who accept the instructions intend to bribe."

As soon as Ma Lu opened fire, the civil servants, who were filled with anger, followed suit and attacked Guo Xun. What's more, because Guo Xun intervened in the case, these civil servants believed that there was something fishy about the case that had already been closed, and that it was a great injustice. "

Xue Baoqin also sighed slightly.

After staying with Zhu Yijun for a long time, she also realized the true colors of those civil servants and scholars.

To put it nicely, justice and fairness in one's heart are above everything else.

To put it bluntly, they are the most selfish group of people in the world.

They claim to care about the country and the people, but in reality they can disregard the safety of the country for the sake of justice and can make the people suffer when necessary.

If we trace back to the root cause, these righteous principles can bring them fame and fortune.
Zhu Yijun sneered a few times and continued, "The imperial censors in the capital wrote in their memorials, 'Zhang Yin is known to the world as Li Wu; Li Wu is known to the world as a traitor. I beg you to punish Zhang Yin severely and remove Guo Xun from his military power.'

These upright censors were all gods. They had neither read the case files nor participated in the trial, yet they insisted that Zhang Yin was Li Wu.

Haha, in fact, their approach is consistent. They are under the banner of justice and morality. As long as the goal is achieved, they can ignore the details.

He is talking nonsense with his eyes open, insisting that Zhang Yin is Li Wu, with the purpose of accusing Guo Xun of harboring a traitor. "

"What about Shanxi Provincial Inspector General Ma Lu? How did he do it?"

Zhu Yijun picked up the teacup, took two sips, and continued.

“It’s an old craft passed down from our ancestors.

After Ma Lu began to reexamine the case, a bunch of witnesses emerged from Shanxi and Shaanxi like mushrooms after rain, and they all testified that Zhang Yin was Li Fuda.

Xue Baoqin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Your Majesty, this is too strange. The Shanxi Provincial Procuratorate had been investigating the case for nearly a year, and all the counties in Shanxi and Shaanxi were alarmed. Why didn't these witnesses come forward at that time? Why did they all come out as soon as Ma Lu overturned the case?"

"Perhaps they were moved by the righteousness of Ma Lu and others, so they stood up one after another." Zhu Yijun sneered.

Are people who uphold justice and righteousness good people? They won't frame or slander others?
joke!

This is even more ridiculous than saying that everyone who drives a BMW or Mercedes-Benz is a good person!
“This case has gone through five trials, and each trial has become more and more complicated.

The upright censors saw it as a great opportunity to bring down the treacherous officials.

The Emperor believed that the repeated twists and turns in this case were the result of internal and external collusion among the ministers, who were taking advantage of the situation to entrap Xun and would gradually involve those who discussed the ceremony. This was a counterattack against the Grand Ceremony Debate in which he had just won!

The two sides argued back and forth over the case. At the end of the trial, the emperor lost his patience and directly issued an edict, appointing Gui E, the right vice minister of Rites, to be in charge of the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Cong, the left vice minister of War, to be in charge of the Censorate, and Fang Xianfu, the junior secretary, to be in charge of the seal of the Dali Temple, and to be responsible for the sixth trial.

Soon the results of the sixth trial were presented to the emperor. Xue Liang falsely accused Zhang Yin and was executed in the autumn. Ma Lu, Yan Yishou and other officials who tried the case were convicted of intentionally "making someone die" and sentenced to four years in prison. The censors were convicted of false accusations and sentenced to four years in prison.

Xue Baoqin was stunned. "This reversal is too fast and too complete."

"There was definitely some inducement, coercion and torture in the sixth trial."

"Why does the emperor think so?"

Zhu Yijun snorted, "All the officials under trial have confessed their crimes, and all the important witnesses have changed their statements. To achieve this, Gui E, Zhang Cong, and Fang Xianfu must have magical powers.
This case was originally an ordinary case caused by an economic dispute and was easy to investigate.

As a result, the arrogant and ignorant Guo Xun intervened, and the civil servant Ma Lu took it as an opportunity to attack his political opponents, and both sides were killed, including the emperor.

The case gradually became politicized and complicated.

No one cares about the truth or whether the parties involved in the case were falsely accused or framed."

"Your Majesty, who do you think is right and who is wrong in this case?"

Zhu Yijun looked at Xue Baoqin and said firmly, "Both of them are wrong, and they are very wrong. If the emperor could see the intentions of the civil officials in this case, he should not have protected Guo Xun from the beginning.

If Guo Xun had been directly and severely punished for the crimes of corruption, abuse of power and interference in the judiciary, the case would not have been so complicated.

After missing this step, the emperor, under the relentless pressure of the civil servants, made one mistake after another and finally interfered with the judiciary at will.

After the sixth trial was concluded, the scholars and civil servants had even more reason to believe that Li Fuda’s case was a false conviction, and that it was the emperor who instructed the powerful officials to fabricate a false case and to attack the upright officials and other righteous people.”

Xue Baoqin was not at all alarmed by Zhu Yijun's criticism of Emperor Shizong's faults. Her husband dared to criticize his ancestors, Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu, and he even disdained the rest of the ancestors.

There were also criticisms and accusations against Emperor Sejong, my husband's grandfather, but these criticisms were more of regret and pity, regretting that his grandfather did not do everything perfectly.

That deep emotion can be felt deeply.

"Your Majesty, can Emperor Sejong get out of this predicament by doing what you did?" "The emperor is the common ruler of the world, and his most important duty is to make rules and then do his best to maintain them. This is the greatest source of his prestige and power.

Guo Xun's behavior is a violation of the rules and he should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.

But in order to maintain his prestige, the emperor did not hesitate to break the rules and directly interfere with the judiciary. If he took the lead in breaking the rules, who else would take the rules seriously?
If the rules set by Grandpa Huang become worthless in the eyes of the public, then his prestige will be destroyed and his power will be lost. "

"Your Majesty, what should Emperor Sejong do?"

“The biggest power he has is to make new rules.”

"But civil servants will still find loopholes in the rules."

"We can definitely think of another way. Zhang Yin is the commander of the Taiyuan Left Guard, a military officer, so it would be reasonable to ask the Rear Army Command and the Imperial Guard to try the case.

If the censors and the honest officials still insist on not letting go, it means they are interfering with the judiciary and breaking the rules, and we have a legitimate reason to punish them."

Xue Baoqin lowered her head and thought, it seems that this is the same method the emperor used to deal with the royal family and civil officials.

To deal with the royal family, he first asked Zhang Juzheng and several censors to impeach the illegal activities of the King of Liao in Jiangling City, and then issued an imperial edict to order Hai Rui to conduct a thorough investigation.

When Hai Qingtian stepped in, many members of the royal family panicked and made mistakes in the chaos, and even dared to send people to assassinate Hai Rui. Well, originally only the Liao Wang family was investigated, but now the entire royal family must be investigated, one by one.

At that time, because Hai Rui was assassinated, the people and scholars were extremely angry. The government and the people were united. The royal family became a minority and had to be dealt with obediently.

When it came to the civil service, Hai Rui was first asked to investigate the Jiangnan Nanwei case, which directly separated the small number of Jiangnan gentry and aristocratic families from the majority of scholars.

You shamelessly encroached upon our chances of admission to the subject examinations. This is more hateful than digging up our ancestors' graves!

Once the Nanwei case was solved, the Jiangnan aristocratic families and related famous scholars who had "broken the rules" became a minority and were hunted down and killed by tens of thousands of ordinary scholars such as scholars and students, as well as the general public.

The same thing happened last year when we dealt with the nobles.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Grandpa Emperor did make mistakes in this case. First, it was Guo Xun, the bastard, who took bribes and perverted the law, and then one wrong step led to another."

Xue Baoqin asked thoughtfully, "Now those scholars are thinking of overturning the verdict again?"

Those famous scholars and great literati had such a sharp nose that when ten noble families were stripped of their titles for illegal reasons last year, they thought that the world was going to change.

Zhu Yijun shook his head, "As early as the second year of Longqing, Pang Shangpeng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, wrote a memorial praising the officials convicted in the Li Fuda case, saying, 'There is righteousness in heaven and earth, and there are righteous people in the universe, so the net of heaven and earth will never fall.'

I called him to the Western Garden and gave him a good scolding, telling him to manage the salt, sugar, wine and tea monopolies well, and that the courts would be responsible for overturning and adjudicating cases.

He said he would uphold the righteousness in his heart.

I scolded him, what you insist on is justice? What you think is right is the truth, are you a saint? Even Confucius didn't dare to say that, how can you be more awesome than him?
So Pang Shangpeng didn't dare to say anything.

Two months later, I ordered the Jinyiwei and the Shanxi Provincial Surveillance Office to cooperate with the Dali Temple to re-examine the case. Based on the irrefutable evidence, it was determined that Zhang Yin and Li Fuda were not the same person, and Xue Liang was indeed falsely accused.

Judgment is based on evidence, not facts. Facts are subjective, and everyone sees facts differently. Evidence is objective and is there for everyone to see.

Only after we have evidence as a basis can we follow the law.”

Xue Baoqin laughed and said, "This is what Mr. Zhuo Wu (Li Zhi) said about dialectical materialism."

"Oh, yes." Zhu Yijun laughed.

"Although this doctrine was perfected and developed by Mr. Zhuo Wu, its core is indeed my own private goods. After the Dali Temple made its final decision, I also cancelled the death penalty for officials such as Ma Lu and Yan Yishou in the name of my father, but their crime of false accusation was not cancelled.

They haven't read the case files and are just making irresponsible statements. Grandfather Emperor interfered with the fairness of the trial, so did they not interfere?"

Xue Baoqin asked: "Your Majesty, if you deal with it this way, there will definitely be people who will be indignant."

"That's right. This edict made many famous scholars indignant. They didn't dare to scold me, so they looked for other targets.

In the first year of the Wanli reign, the first and second volumes of "The Veritable Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty", edited by Master Li (Li Chunfang) and Master Zhang (Zhang Juzheng), were published one after another.

In the evaluation of Zhang Cong, it was said that when he was ordered to investigate a major case, he went against the majority opinion and escaped the death of Zhang Yin, while dozens of people were implicated and found guilty. As a result, the gentry envied him like an enemy.

This group of scholars and Confucian scholars found their target, especially the group headed by Shen Wanxun, who spread the word that the Li Fuda case was a major injustice in history.

Scolding Master Zhang and Master Li is an attempt to destroy them and erase their traces. They are so arrogant that they will surely suffer a terrible disaster in the future. It is all their own fault!
What you insist on is right, and others are definitely wrong. If we don’t arrest people who can’t distinguish right from wrong and confuse right and wrong, will we keep them for the New Year?”

Xue Baoqin didn't know how to excuse Shen Wanxun for a moment.

Zhu Yijun said in a serious tone: "Empress, these people are of the same lineage as Gao Gong, Wang Lin, and the Jiangnan noble families.

They didn't care at all whether Zhang Yin was wronged or not. They just wanted to use this case to tame the imperial power with justice and righteousness, the moral weapons they were best at.

In their eyes, a good emperor is one who respects reason and follows morality, and this reason and morality are in their hands. They have the highest right to interpret morality, including the moral evaluation of the emperor.

This is what they want, that the emperor and the scholars should rule the world together.”

Xue Baoqin was stunned. She never expected that Zhu Yijun would say such words to her.

"Your Majesty, your words have left me in a trance for a moment, and I don't know what to do."

Zhu Yijun said in a serious tone, "Empress, you and I are husband and wife. I rule the world, and you rule the harem. The vast territory of the Ming Dynasty will be passed on to the prince you give birth to a hundred years later.

When you give birth to a legitimate son, and he grows up for another two or three years, I will leave Beijing to travel around and see the mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty and the true national conditions with my own eyes. I will also see whether my new policies are beneficial or harmful to the people. "

Xue Baoqin smiled and said, "Based on the evidence."

Zhu Yijun also smiled, "Yes, based on evidence. For me, what I see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears is evidence. Traveling thousands of miles is far better than reading hundreds of thousands or millions of solemn memorials submitted by my ministers."

Queen, you will have to stay in the capital by then. So there are some things I must explain to you clearly. "

Xue Baoqin nodded slowly.

Li Chun hurried in and bowed outside the pavilion: "Your Majesty, urgent military report."

"Where?"

"In reply to the emperor, Northwest."

Zhu Yijun stood up immediately and said, "I will help the queen back to the palace first."

Xue Baoqin also stood up and, with the help of Zhu Yijun, walked into the main hall of Yaohua Palace.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry about me. Military and national affairs are more important."

"Okay, Queen, have a good rest. I'm leaving now."

Watching Zhu Yijun's hurriedly leaving figure, Xue Baoqin, who was standing at the entrance of the palace, touched her belly and said softly, "My son, did you hear everything your father said?"

(End of this chapter)